Main pic: Master Robert entering the winner’s circle in 1924 with jockey Bob Trudgill, being led by Lord Airlie, with Aubrey Hastings to the right smiling. From the collection of Francis X. Murray. Used with permission.
On this very day in 1924, a Donegal ‘plough horse’ became the unlikely winner of the world-famous Aintree Grand National.
‘Master Robert’, was born, bred and trained just a few miles outside the border town of Castlefin.
The thoroughbred was raised by Mr Robert McKinlay on his farm at Sessiaghmore, on the back road between Castlefinn and Convoy. When not on the racing, he was used to plough McKinlay’s land, hence the nickname ‘plough horse.’
According to his grandson, Mr Terence McKinlay, Master Robert’s sire (father) was called ‘Moorside II’ and his dam (mother) was called ‘Dodds’, acquired from Robert Patterson of Manorcunningham.
When the foal was born he was an “enormous size” and, when he was two years-old, he was sent to The Curragh to be trained by Mr Maurice Reidy. However, Mr Reidy wrote to Mr McKinlay to say the horse was “too much overgrown” and although fast, he could not compete with the other horses of the same age.
Mr Reidy advised that the horse be taken back to Castlefin and to make a “chaser of him.” Master Robert was trained as a ‘chaser’ by a Mr Anthony in 1919, however, he was returned to Mr McKinlay again as he was deemed to be “no good.”
He also refused to work in chains on the farm and was subsequently sold to Mr JT Elliott of Strabane for £50. Mr Elliott kept him for around six weeks and, part of that time, he was at grass in a field next to the Donegal Railway line.
“One day, when a train was passing, he took fright, jumped the gates onto the line and galloped along the railway track for about two miles in front of the engine,” Mr McKinlay said.
Master Robert was sold several times, including to Mr HJ Fordham of Royston, Hertfordshire in England in October, 1921. Mr Fordham won a number of races with him before selling him on to Major Sidney Green and, finally, to Lord Airlie. The rest, as they say, is history.
Jockey Bob Trudgill on 1924 Grand National winner ‘Master Robert’
Now, a New York based Irish-American writer, Fran Murray, is planning to turn the story of Master Robert into a nonfiction novel. Mr Murray, who runs the website www.masterrobert.horse, spoke to Donegal Daily this week.
“I believe this horse has a story which reinforces the (Grand National) event’s great tradition, and will interest your readers,” he said.
“Master Robert’s achievement is the consummate Grand National story – occurring when horse racing reigned supreme in the sporting world – featuring an unlikely winner (with an unlikely winning jockey) and a high-profile field of horses, jockeys, trainers and owners,” he added.
“It was very likely the highest-attended single-day sporting event in the world in 1924 (250,000 estimate, including King George V).”
According to British Pathé, a world-record 45 cameramen filmed the event, representing a milestone in the evolution of live event filming. A British Pathé silent film of the race can be found online here: https://bit.ly/1924GrandNational
To find out more about Mr Murray’s upcoming novel, and to contact him, go to www.masterrobert.horse
Fran Murray at Bryson’s pug, Magherafelt, Co Derry.